Goodbye Forever: Second Chance
by Dainn
Summary: After giving up on magic and discarding her old identity, Trixie moves to Manehattan in an attempt to get a second chance on life. Things don't go as planned for the former magician. After once again finding herself at rock bottom, Trixie abandons all hope of ever finding happiness. Rating may change as story progresses.
1. Chapter 1

If haven't already read Goodbye Forever: Great and Powerful Trixie, then you might get a little confused about some parts.

Read that first, before reading this.

/s/8806045/1/Goodbye-Forever-Great-and-Powerful-Trixie

* * *

Four months had passed since that day in Ponyville when Twilight Sparkle had taken everything away from Trixie for the second time in a row. No … it wasn't just Twilight this time. This time she had help from those other ponies. Thanks to the local newspaper, as well as the small talk that she frequently picked up on from other ponies, Trixie couldn't forget their names, faces, and personal information, no matter how hard she tried.

How in Celestia's name did she fail to notice that what Twilight used wasn't magic, but special effects instead? As a former showmare, Trixie should have been able to detect the strategy that Twilight was playing at. Trixie wanted to blame the Alicorn Amulet. If it wasn't for the mental corruption produced by the amulet's power, Trixie would have been able to use her brain properly and, undoubtedly, would have been able to see through Twilight's act as easily as a Timberwolf sees through the night. However, it didn't matter who or what she blamed for her more recent problems in life.

Trixie used most of her remaining bits to buy a train ticket to Manehattan. The plan was to get a new start on life in the big city. She'd find a new job, buy a new house, and maybe even make a few friends if she was lucky. Sadly, Trixie learned the hard way that nothing in life ever goes exactly as planned.

Even after casting her old identity aside, Trixie wasn't able to find anypony willing to hire her. The only open slots that Trixie found available were jobs that completely degraded mares. Trixie had too much respect for herself to dance on a pole for a living, just to entertain a few dirty minded stallions.

Without a job, Trixie wasn't able to buy that small house that she had envisioned since stepping off of the train so many days ago. A few nights later, while sleeping on a park bench, a group of ponies mugged Trixie. During the assault, Trixie was robbed of the rest of her money. The other ponies weren't satisfied with taking home a measly 14 bits, so they punched and kicked her until she passed out. They also tore her black cloak, the only source of warmth that she had brought with her after leaving Ponyville, and tore it to shreds.

The next morning, light snow fell from the sky. The harmless levels of snow turned into a full scale blizzard one week later.

At present, Trixie was wondering through a harsh snow storm. She had no money, and even if she did she wouldn't be able to use it since it was Hearths Warming Eve and everypony was closing down shop for the day, her only way of staying warm at night had been destroyed, she hadn't had anything to eat in days, there was plenty to drink on the ground, but Trixie usually tried to avoid eating snow since it lowers your body heat, and she had long since abandoned all hope of finding a new beginning in Manehattan. The unicorn began to ponder if she should have just chosen suicide instead of trying to start over.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she suddenly lost the ability to stand, and fell to the ground. She tried to get back up, but her legs just wouldn't budge. Trixie expected that this would happen sooner or later. The body can only last for so long in the cold without proper amounts of food, water, and shelter.

Trixie looked around and spotted a dumpster across the street from her current position, near a dark alley. _"The inside of the dumpster might give me some sort of protection from the cold,"_ thought Trixie. Since she didn't have the energy to pull herself up and walk towards it, she'd just have to crawl. This was easier said than done. Her body didn't want to move anymore. Trixie's body had gotten so weak that the snow felt like a warm blanket. It was so relaxing that Trixie contemplated falling asleep right then and there. She had been struggling to survive for so very long … and the odds of her life getting any better were pretty slim.

Why not give up? Why not take a well deserved rest? It would have been easy. All she had to do was lie here in the snow, close her eyes, and relax. If she did, she wouldn't have to worry anymore. She wouldn't have to suffer like this. Besides, she'd rather die than have to degrade herself any further by crawling across the street like some sort of worm.

It had been decided, after so many days worth of hardships and struggles, this is where it would all end. At long last, the tale of Trixie Lulamoon could finally close. Her journey as a rising magician, turned bum, would end here. This was the greatest act of mercy that she had received since she cast her old identity aside.

Trixie closed her eyes, silently awaiting death to pay her a visit. While she sat there, she listened to the private symphony that was taking place inside her body. Her heart, it was playing a peaceful melody specifically for her. She smiled as the song slowed in its pace. She usually hated slow songs, but this time things were different. Once the song ended, all her troubles in life would stop.

_"No!" _screamed a voice that sounded so far away, yet so familiar at the same time. What was that voice? Where had it come from? That's when Trixie realized what that sound was. It was her conscience. Had she really become so delirious that she couldn't even recognize her own inner voice?

_"You can still make it. Do the one thing you excel at, even more than performing for other ponies. Survive!"_

_"No … I'm tired … I need to rest."_

_"Just one more day Trixie … please … don't give up just yet. Not like this. Not in the streets … not in the snow … not like some sort of starving dog."_

_"Fine … just one more day. After that … I'm taking a well deserved nap."_

Trixie felt a little silly arguing with the one small shred of her being that didn't want to accept death just yet.

Trixie opened her eyes and although her vision had become blurry, she was able to relocate the position of the dumpster that seemed to be waiting for her. She outstretched her front right leg and placed it as far as she could in the direction of her desired location. Trixie then pulled herself forward. She repeated this action with her front left leg. Each drag was another battle won, and yet the war raged on. All the while, her body screamed in protest. The dumpster was only a few meters away. It was so close, yet so far away. Oh how badly she wanted to just give up and die, but that small part of her that wanted to cling to life would have none of it.

As she inched herself closer and closer to the dumpster, Trixie's heart seemed to beat even louder while, at the same time, slowing down.

Just as Trixie's newfound determination began to falter, she made a new discovery. She had done it. She made it across the street and the dumpster was standing directly in front of her. Now came the hardest part. She had to get back on her hooves, and climb inside the metallic sanctuary.

The unicorn took a deep breath and focused everything she had into her legs. She was halfway up when her legs gave out on her. Her brain pulsed from the pain as her body fell. So much of her precious energy had just been depleted for nothing. Trixie grunted from soreness as she tried again, but was met with the same result.

What kind of a cruel joke was this? It was as if somepony had attached her success to the end of a fishing hook and purposely pulled away each time she tried to reach for it. Tears fell from Trixie's eyes, which turned into ice the instant they touched the frozen concrete below.

Trixie tried one final time. She was running on fumes, so this was it. If she failed to climb inside the dumpster this time, then she would perish.

To Trixie's sheer amazement, her third attempt proved to be even more pathetic than the previous two. Her body didn't move at all. Using the last of her strength, she flipped herself over so that her back was resting against the dumpster. She was back to where she was several minutes ago. Physically and mentally defeated and patiently waiting for the end. As her adrenaline wore thin, her vision started to fog up once more. If Manehattan was to be her final resting place, then the dumpster would be her tombstone.

Minutes later, Trixie found herself being assaulted by another gust of wind. The cold air had blown something into her face, some sort of paper like substance. She barely felt it of course. She was almost gone. Too weak to brush the paper away, she opened her eyes so that she could study it. Regardless of the condition that her eyesight was in, she was able to make out what the paper was, and the contents that were on it.

Fate was truly an ironic thing. If she had the energy, Trixie would have laughed until tears rained from her face. It was a newspaper, and on the front page it read, "10 Ponies and A Zebra Thwart Crazy Fraud's Revenge Attempt!" On the bottom of the headline were the faces of everypony that played a part in Trixie's greatest failure. Funny, one of the last things that she'd see before slipping away were the faces of the ones that ruined everything. Another gust of wind blew the paper away in the next instant.

Before slipping away into unconsciousness, something else caught Trixie's attention. She weakly turned her head to the side and saw what appeared to be another pony running towards her with a blanket.

_"Who …"_ was all Trixie had time to say before her world was engulfed into a void like darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Trixie always expected to find herself, once again, alone and in the dark. What she wasn't expecting was to literally find herself alone and in the dark. She studied her new environment and saw that the darkness was everywhere. The sky above was just as pitch-black as the seemingly non-existent surface that held her body in the air. Trixie was standing on nothing and yet, for some bizarre reason, she wasn't spiraling into the void below. From what Trixie could tell, there were no other ponies here, living creatures, or sources of light. In fact, Trixie began to question if anything ever existed here … wherever "here" was exactly. There was only Trixie and the darkness. The confused mare decided to do what any sensible pony would do in this situation, walk around.

After taking her first step forward, Trixie notice that small ripples appeared in the darkness below her hooves. It was as if she were walking on water. _"I'm definitely not in Manehattan anymore,"_ thought Trixie. As she journeyed deeper into the void, Trixie asked herself the same questions over and over again. "_How did I get here?" "Why am I here?" "How do I leave this place?"_ If she could recall correctly, she had frozen to death in an alley somewhere inside Manehattan. If that's the case, then could it be that she was in the afterlife? Funny, paradise wasn't quite what she had expected. There were no bright lights, angels, warm skies, or a supreme being to greet her with a smile. There was only oblivion.

Before long, Trixie was finally able to locate another source of life. Standing a few yards away was another pony but it had its back turned towards her. Elated to see that she wasn't alone anymore, Trixie ran forward as fast as she could with a smile. "Hey! Over here!" The pony didn't turn around. It was as if it hadn't heard her. "Hey," said Trixie while slowing down to a trot after getting close enough to the pony. "Um … do you have any idea where we are, or how to get out?"

There was still no reply from the pony. "Uh … can you even hear-" Trixie stopped herself midsentence as she stared at the pony. After Trixie realized who the pony standing before her was her muscles slowly began tense up. Light purple coat … violet, purple, and pink mane … and a dark pink star surrounded by five white sparkles for a cutie-mark.

"… Twilight?" called Trixie with uncertainty. What was she doing here? Ah, who cares? Although it wasn't her favorite pony in the world, Trixie decided that she'd gladly accept Twilight's company if it meant that she wouldn't be lost in the darkness all alone.

"Twilight?" Trixie called again, but still didn't get a response.

Trixie reached forward to tap Twilight on the back.

The instant her hoof made contact with Twilight's body, Trixie's vision was obscured by a sudden burst of light. The flash was so intense that it forced Trixie to shield her eyes and turn away. After a few seconds had gone by, Trixie finally opened her eyes. The unicorn was met with a mixture of shock and confusion. She was no longer in the darkness. She found herself somewhere much worse.

_"Ponyville?" _What was she doing here? From what Trixie could remember, she was standing in the town square. She looked up into the sky and saw storm clouds. The scenery was all too familiar to Trixie. This was how the town looked when she had her final showdown against Twilight. Trixie broke into a cold sweat as she backed away slowly. She stopped after she felt herself bump against something. The moment Trixie turned around she jumped in surprise and it wasn't just because of the flash of lightning that lit up the sky. Standing in front of Trixie were the very ponies that worked together as a team to bring her down: Twilight and her friends, the Zebra with the weird accent, the stallion, the fillies, and the elderly mare. The new setting felt all too familiar and Trixie began to wonder if she had somehow gone back in time. Her thoughts changed after she took a second glance at her former adversaries. It wasn't the murderous stare they were all shooting Trixie that forced her to back away with caution. Trixie backed away because they were all wielding knives.

"Listen everypony, if this has anything to do with what I did the last time that I was here then I just want you to know that I'm sorry." The intimidating ponies, and zebra, continued their slow, ominous, advance.

"No … stay back!"

Trixie's words fell on deaf ears as they continued their approach.

Trixie panicked. She turned around in an attempt to run away but was blocked by a large wall of ponies. She recognized many of them as the Ponyville residents.

"What's the rush?" questioned an earth-pony stallion with a sinister look in his eyes.

"Yeah, why don't you stay for awhile?" asked a nearby unicorn mare.

More of the town's folk swarmed the vicinity. Some came from nearby houses, some flew in from the dark skies above, and others seemed to emerge from the shadows of nearby buildings. Before long, Trixie found herself completely surrounded. There were so many of them, and they had any possible exits that Trixie could have used to get away blocked off. She was trapped, and her hopes of getting out of Ponyville alive were dropping fast. Another flash of lightning cracked across the sky.

Trixie turned back around; Twilight and the others were still walking towards her with their weapons drawn. Trixie aimed at her incoming predators and charged her horn with magic. Ah … magic. She didn't think she'd ever be so happy use the stuff again, especially after what happened last time. "Get back! I'm warning you! I will do it!"

"Do what?" asked Rainbowdash. "Tickle us to death with your amateur leveled magic?"

Trixie had flashbacks about her previous visit in Ponyville. After replacing the Alicorn Amulet with that cheap fake that was being used by Twilight, she fired her strongest attack spell at the rainbow-maned pegasus standing before her. She could still remember the shock she felt when she saw how ineffective her magic truly was. The memory only served to sink Trixie even further into the depths of despair. "No …" whimpered Trixie. The realization of just how powerless she truly was caused her to lose concentration over her magic. Just as her control over her only means of fighting back began to fizzle out, so too did her fighting spirit. She fell onto her knees in anguish.

The moment that Trixie collapsed, a pony that she remembered as being the mayor of the town ran from the crowd and grabbed her. Her grip was so powerful that it seemed unreal. The mayor, while still maintaining her vice-like hold on Trixie, turned the mare towards Twilight and the others.

The crowd erupted with insane laughter as Trixie screamed for help. The unicorn that defeated Trixie, and all of her friends, were now standing only a few inches away from Trixie. Twilight raised her knife high into the air while shooting Trixie an evil grin.

"Help! Somepony help me, please!" screamed Trixie at the top of her lungs.

Twilight smiled and said, "What creature in their right mind would help somepony as worthless, crazy, and untalented as you?"

That was the final nail in the coffin for Trixie. She was everything that Twilight just said and so much worse.

"Kill her! Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!" chanted the on-looking crowd.

She didn't deserve to live anymore and the world would be better off without her. She slowly closed her eyes. She just hoped that Twilight would show mercy and make this quick. The moment Twilight plunged the knife as deep as she could into Trixie's breast, precisely where her heart was, another flash of lightning raced across the sky.

* * *

"AHHHH!" screamed Trixie as her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. She began to hyperventilate as she ripped away at the blankets that were wrapped around her torso and checked herself for any serious injuries. There was no blood … it was only a bad dream ... a very very bad dream.

_"Hold on a minute … I'm covered in blankets? What the hay?!" _Further inspection revealed that she was resting on a dark red couch._ "Am I in somepony's house?"_ Before Trixie could further inspect her surroundings, an unfamiliar voice broke Trixie's train of thought.

"Alright! You did it Summer!" Trixie's body jumped slightly as she turned towards the direction of the voice.

Standing a few hooves away from the couch were two unicorns, both mares. One was covered in sweat and was panting heavily. Several sparks danced around her needle sharp horn. She had a light-orange coat and a short fiery red mane. Part of her mane grew out in front of her face, covering one of her dark purple eyes. Below her eyes were heavy dark bags, signifying that she hadn't slept in awhile. Her cutie-mark was a silhouette of a pony striking a punching-bag with enough force to make it explode, causing sand to fly everywhere.

The other unicorn was slightly shorter than the one that had sparks flowing from her horn. She had a light pink coat and a curly soft green mane, which contained thin yellow streaks of hair. Her cutie-mark displayed a picture of a large garden. She had a smile on her face that filled Trixie with a sense of comfort, but Trixie still felt far from safe. After all, she was in a house with a group of strangers.

"Whew ... that's the first time that I've ever used 'Thunder' based magic' to jumpstart someponies heart instead of a defibrillator. Good to know that it worked. If I'd gotten here any later, she would have died," said the unicorn with the red mane.

"…Uh … who are -" Trixie ceased her question as her body began to shiver violently. Why did she feel so cold all of a sudden?

"Hey, take it easy! You had a really bad case of hypothermia when she found you. You're body still needs time to recover, and if you don't keep warm you could still die," explained the orange unicorn.

The memories of being out in the cold returned to Trixie in full force. The last thing that she remembered before her collapse was seeing a pony run towards her with a blanket. That must have been the pony with the green and yellow mane. "And you are?" asked Trixie while rewrapping herself and turning towards her rescuer.

"My name is Autumn Daisy," said the pink unicorn. "And this is my older sister, Summer Daisy, but you can just call us by our first names. I looked outside my window and saw you crawling through the snow. I thought I was too late when I finally made it over to you. After I carried you back to my apartment and wrapped you up in as many blankets as I could find, I ran all the way to Summer's house. She's a doctor, so I figured that she'd be able to help you more than I ever could. Good thing I got her too, your heart stopped beating at least six different times and you had a core body temperature of 51.4 degrees."

Summer rolled her eyes. "I'm still pissed that you woke up me up just to run over here and save some random bum that you found in the streets. Helping you nurse a bum back to health … this isn't how I wanted to spend my Hearths Warming. When this is all over, you're going to pay me 100 bits for waking me up, another 10 for every day that I spend trying to heal her and an additional 50 if she has frostbite! And don't get me started about how much you'll owe me if my Hearths Warming gets screwed up!"

Trixie turned towards a window and saw that it was dark outside. The sun was still up when Trixie had fallen out so she must have been in Autumn and her sister's company for quite some time.

"So Trixie, would you mind telling me what it is that you're doing way out here in Manehattan? Or better yet, what you were doing outside in this kind of whether without a jacket?"

Trixie's eyes shot wide open. What did she just call her? She must have heard her wrong. "… What did you just say?"

Autumn blinked a few times. The way her guest asked that question made her feel uneasy. It was as if she'd just said something offensive. But how could that be? All she did was ask an innocent question. "I said, what were you doing outside in the cold?"

"No, before that."

"I said … 'So Trixie'?"

Trixie's breathing became shallow at the realization that a random unicorn had just addressed her by her real name.

"Hey, you okay?" asked Summer.

_ "Impossible! How does she know who I am?! The illusion spell should have -" _Suddenly Trixie shot back up on the couch. She looked around frantically until she spotted a mirror resting on top of Autumn's fireplace. To her horror, she didn't see the disguise that she had conjured back in Ponyville. She saw her real self. There were a few minor changes of course, such as her somewhat sickly appearance due to several weeks of being deprived of decent amounts of nutrition, there were cuts and bruises all across her face from when those thugs stole the rest of her money, and her mane was stained a murky brown thanks to countless nights spent sleeping in unsanitary locations, but the unicorn that stared back from the mirror was without a doubt Trixie Lulamoon.

"No …" whispered Trixie.

"Is everything alright? You look a little pale," asked Autumn.

_"No … no. No …! No! NO! Why?! How?! I put everything I had into that spell! It should have been able to hold up for years before the effects wore off!" _That's when Trixie remembered just how weak she had become. Yesterday when she spaced out, she didn't even have enough strength to stand on her own four legs, so how was she supposed to have enough power to maintain something as advanced as an illusion spell? She must have returned back to normal around the time Autumn showed up.

Wait a minute … Autumn and Summer knew who she was, but she knew almost nothing about them. Why did they save her? Did they think that it would be amusing to have a broken unicorn of her public status contained in an apartment like this? Perhaps they wanted to make a quick bit by tipping off a couple dozen reporters about where she was staying. She could only imagine what the headlines of the newspapers would say. Oh no, if that were to happen, especially in a big city like Manehattan, it would be a repeat of everything that drove her into a self-sentenced exile times a thousand! Ponies would flock over to the apartment in droves if it meant that they could poke more fun at the already broken down mare! Forget running away from Ponyville, she'd have to leave Equestria!

"Ok seriously, now you're starting to make me a little nervous. Are you alright, Trixie?" Autumn asked once again.

The inner flames of Trixie's anger were beginning to ignite.

In reality Autumn was frowning, but all Trixie saw was a mocking smile. The imaginary smile then evolved into laughter, the kind of laughter that she often heard in her nightmares.

Autumn walked towards Trixie. She was going to check and see if her hypothermia had perhaps turned into a high fever. The sight of her approach alarmed Trixie. "Stay back! I know what you two are trying to do and it won't work!" Trixie kicked the covers off her body and rolled off the couch. Trixie screamed the instant that she landed on the white carpet below. All of a sudden, she felt an overwhelming pain shoot through every last fiber of her body.

"Trixie, are you alright?!" shouted Autumn. "Summer, what's wrong with her?!"

The medic trotted forward and examined Trixie. She was swelling up like a balloon. "Autumn, you know how if you stay outside in the cold for too long your hooves go numb?" Her younger sister nodded. "And you know how it hurts like hell when the feeling comes back? Well, it's the same situation with her only worse. She was out there for Faust knows how long, so it's not just her hooves that are regaining their feeling back, it's her entire body." Autumn's eyes widened with terror. She couldn't imagine how much pain her new guest was in.

"That's one of the things about hypothermia; it'll disappear once the body warms back up, but not before leaving a present for you to remember it by." Summer wrapped Trixie, and the covers on the ground, inside a cocoon of telekinetic magic. While Trixie was suspended in the air, Summer was able to catch a quick glance at the unicorn. There was a strange red swelling around her two front legs where her coat ended and her hooves began. _"Frostbite. You already owe me an extra 50 bits little sister."_ She gently placed Trixie, who was still screaming and flailing about in the air, back onto the couch. Her horn glowed with a yellow light as she enchanted the covers, making it so that they forcefully pinned Trixie down. "There, she should stay put now."

"No! Let me go!" Trixie tried to break free but to no avail. The covers felt more like heavy weights now. They had her held down tight. If she were at full strength, she could have freed herself through a great deal of effort, but not the way she was now. Her body had warmed up a bit, but she hadn't improved all that much physically. It was only through her determination to escape that she had been able to find the strength to roll off the couch as quickly as she had done moments before.

Autumn sighed sadly as she looked to her big sister. "Is that really necessary?"

"If she tries moving around in that kind of condition she'd just end up hurting herself even more. Then I'd be stuck here trying to help her out even longer than I'd normally have to." Summer then fired a muting spell at Trixie. Her furious shouts were suddenly silenced. Trixie opened her mouth but no sound would come out.

How dare they? First they hold her captive and now they take away her right to speak? Just wait until she got her strength back! She'd fire up her strongest spells and – … no. She wouldn't do anything. She couldn't do anything. If she'd learned anything from her recent string of nightmares, and her experiences in Ponyvile, it was that all of her spells were mediocre. It was then that Trixie thought about just how badly everything in her life had gone. She was powerless to stop the Ursa Minor from wrecking havoc in the small town that she hated oh so much. Even with the Alicorn amulet; she couldn't get revenge against Twilight; there was nothing she could do when all of the other ponies turned her away after applying for a job, no matter how hard she fought back she couldn't stop those thugs from taking away what remained of her money, and now … she was stuck in an apartment with two mares that could literally do whatever they wanted to her. They could point a knife in her face right now and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. She had little to no control over the obstacles in her life and it frustrated her to no end.

After calming down a little, Trixie turned her head towards the back rest of the couch.

"See that, she's settled down already!" Summer said flatly. Without another word, she turned around and walked towards the stairway that lead to where Autumn's bedrooms were.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"It's six in the morning, and thanks to her, I haven't gotten any sleep since 10 o'clock. Where do you THINK I'm about to go?" asked Summer sarcastically.

"But what about Trixie? What if she needs something?"

"Oh she'll be fine. Just look at her, she's probably on her way to sleep right now, which is where I should have been ages ago. Now, good morning little sis, I'll see you later. Oh, and Happy Hearths Warming everypony..."

Autumn looked back to Trixie, she was still facing away from her. The pink unicorn sighed sadly. _"Poor Trixie. What has the world done to you?" _A yawn escaped the mare's mouth. It would appear that her elder sister wasn't the only one in need of sleep. She took one final look at her house guest before walking upstairs. _"This is going to be one long day …" _


	3. Chapter 3

Autumn awoke to the sounds of young colts and fillies cheering with merriment. Usually, this would have been a more than pleasant way to start the holiday considering the events that took place several hours ago. Images of Trixie collapsed in the alley, her life mere minutes away from being extinguished rushed through her mind. Pushing the thoughts from her head, Autumn focused on the sounds of the happy children outside. She always felt a sense of inner joy whenever she witnessed a group of children who were laughing and having fun, even if they had interrupted her slumber; the happiness was always welcome. She groggily turned towards the clock on the other side of the bed. _"… 9:23 AM. I was asleep for less than three hours ..."_ Autumn yawned as she stumbled into the bathroom and used her magic to shut the door behind her.

She stared at herself in the mirror and gave a light-hearted chuckle. Her eyes were bloodshot, her light green mane was in desperate need of a good brushing, and dark bags hung from her eyes. It was amazing how drained she felt. Sure, after getting less than three hours of sleep, she didn't expect her body to have much energy, but this was insane. All she wanted was to go back to bed, but knew this wouldn't be possible; the sounds of the children playing in the snow would only stir her back from dream land. _"Is this how Summer feels whenever she has to get up early because of an emergency message from the Manehattan Medical Center?" _Autumn slowly climbed inside the shower. _ "No wonder she's always so angry."_

After finishing up in the bathroom, Autumn decided to go downstairs and get breakfast started. The unicorn couldn't think of a better way to start the day than to prepare breakfast for the two other mares who were staying in the apartment. As she descended into the lower level of her home and made her way towards the kitchen, she shot a quick glance towards Trixie. She was still on the couch, lying fast asleep. Even from the stairway Autumn could tell that something wasn't right. Trixie was sweating profusely, her eyelids were trembling, and if she looked carefully, she could see tear marks on her face. Autumn sighed as she came to the realization that Trixie must have been having a nightmare. The only thing that Autumn could do was hope that Princess Luna would pay her a visit and help make her dreams more bearable.

_"Well, this is bad …"_ Autumn found that she was running low on breakfast material. Judging by what she had to work with, she could fix up to three bowls of oatmeal; prepare two omelets, and there was enough mix to whip up about six pancakes. _"Well, I'll just have to make the most of a bad situation."_ She smiled as she washed her hooves and got to work with pouring the pancake mix into the skillet. As the batter sizzled, a heavenly aroma slowly overtook the household. _"Let's see … there are two other ponies here besides me," _Autumn thought as she cracked the eggs on the side of another skillet and stirred the yolk with a spatula._ "Summer is a bottomless pit and Trixie looks like she'll drop dead at any moment if she doesn't get something to eat. I guess I'll split the pancakes 50/50 between Trixie and Summer. I'll give both of the omelets to Summer. As for the oatmeal, I'll make one bowl for all three of us." _After placing the second skillet, which contained the eggs, on one of the three remaining burners on the stove, she sped over to check on the pancakes. The uncooked side of the pancake had bubbled all over the place. _"Alright, time to flip it over!"_

"And why you've chosen to sell flowers for a living instead of opening a bakery, I'll never know …"

"Wah!" screamed Autumn. She was so busy cooking that she failed to notice her big sister walking into the kitchen.

"You didn't hear me? Whoops." Summer looked the same way Autumn had about an hour ago. She must have just woken up.

"Nope, I guess not," laughed Autumn. "So, how'd you sleep last night?"

"Like a newborn foal … until those noisy little pukes came out to play." Summer cracked her neck by tilting it to the side. Autumn knew that whenever her sister cracked her neck that it was a sign that she was either really unhappy, or she was about to get into a fight. Autumn figured that it was the former.

"Well Summer, it is Hearth's Warming after all. The children just want to have fun."

Summer pointed towards her face with her hoof. "Do you see this face? This is the face of somepony who doesn't give a damn! I outta go out there and give those chumps a piece of my mind!" Autumn couldn't help but laugh at how blunt her sister was being at voicing her thoughts, but she also began to worry about the safety of the children outside. "You think this is funny? I'm not messin' around here! I missed out on some precious sleep thanks to them! And besides, when we were that young, we stayed inside and played with our Hearth's Warming presents all day long! So what are they doing out in the first place?!"

"Well first of all, everypony's different. Secondly, keep your voice down. Trixie's still asleep!"

Summer turned towards the couch and saw that Trixie was indeed still asleep. This was all her fault. She just had to pass out in the alley across the street from Autumn's window. If she didn't have to help her sister monitor that washed-up has been, she'd likely be in a much better mood. "Lucky her. Anyways, what's for breakfast?"

"Oh, uh, pancakes, oatmeal, and some omelets." Summer took a look at all of the cooking supplies that her sister was going to use, eyed the pancake that was starting to overcook inside the skillet, and then frowned. "What's wrong, Summer?"

"You've barely got any mix left, you only have four eggs, which means that you can only make two omelets, and from what I can see from this box, you're pretty much out of oatmeal."

"Sorry, but I forgot to go out and buy more stuff," Autumn scooped out the pancake and set it down on a plate. "Plus, I didn't know that I'd be having extra company."

Summer rolled her eyes and brushed an orange hoof through her fiery mane. "You know what? Forget the food that you were gonna make for me. I'm goin' out for breakfast."

"You do realize that today is a holiday and that everypony is closed, right?"

"There are some places that are always open, even on holidays. You just have to know where to look. This way, the two of you will have more to eat. Take it easy on how much you give Trixie though. Her body hasn't had any real food for who Celestia knows how long. If she eats too much too soon, she'll either puke it all back up, or she'll die from malnutrition." And with that, Summer was out the door.

_ "Ok then … one pancake and an omelet for Trixie, two pancakes for me and a bowl of oatmeal …"_

xxxxxx

Strange … after all the noise that Summer made when she left, combined with the smells coming from the kitchen, Trixie should have been up by now. Autumn had already finished eating and yet the showmare still hadn't moved an inch. The pink unicorn decided to check on her for the second time that day. To Autumn's relief, and confusion, the azure-coated unicorn was wide awake, but she didn't look too happy. In fact, she looked almost as angry as Summer had been before leaving the apartment.

"Oh, good morning Trixie! How long have you been up?"

Her only response was a death glare.

"Uh, did I say something wrong?"

Trixie pointed a hoof towards her mouth.

"Huh? Oh!" Autumn finally understood why she wasn't talking. Summer never reversed the "Weight Enchantment" or the "Muting" spells that she had used previously. "Sorry Trixie, I completely forgot!" Autumn fired a golden beam of magic at Trixie, successfully undoing Summer's handiwork.

"Well it sure took you long enough." Trixie spoke in monotone. Her voice was devoid of any life whatsoever and Autumn found that concerning. Trixie looked like a zombie rising from the grave as she slowly climbed off the couch. Her movements were stiff, sluggish, and her coordination appeared to be slightly off. Her physical appearance only proved to further support Autumn's thoughts. Trixie's face, neck, and part of her torso were littered with cut marks, signifying that somepony had attacked her. Aside from the scars, Autumn now had a clear view of the rest of the defeated unicorn's body thanks to the morning light. She didn't notice it at first, but Trixie was dangerously underweight. If she didn't know any better, she'd swear that the frostbite on Trixie's forelegs was starting to turn from a bright red to a distorted blue.

"Your name's Autumn, right?"

Pulling her attention away from Trixie's injuries, Autumn came back to reality. "Yes, that's right," she replied with a polite bow.

"Where's the bathroom? I've been holding it for about an hour now."

Autumn pointed upstairs, "Up there, and then walk all the way down the hall. It's through the final door."

Trixie was halfway up the stairs when Autumn called out to her out again. "Sorry again for not noticing that you were awake, and – since she'd never do it herself – I would like apologize for what my sister did to you this morning. She went a little overboard in trying to make sure that you didn't hurt yourself." She said nothing as she continued up the stairs. "She's not a bad pony … honest."

xxxxxx

Trixie sat down in front of the kitchen table. Autumn used her magic to levitate a fork, a knife, and what was intended to be Trixie's first meal of the day in front of the food-deprived mare. The pancake and omelet both smelled appetizing. Even after sitting out for a while, the food still felt warm to the touch. A loud rumble came from Trixie's stomach as she took in the wonderful smell of a homemade breakfast on a cold winter's day. "Well, eat up!" Trixie had almost forgotten the presence of the pony that was gracious enough to prepare breakfast.

Autumn was just standing there, watching Trixie stare at the plate. Trixie assumed that she was waiting for her to take her first bites of food before leaving. _"What an annoying mare."_ After taking a few bites, the ex-magician looked back up to see if she was still being watched. To her great disappointment, Autumn was still there, watching her carefully like a bear would keep an eye on her cub.

"Is there … something wrong with the food?"

"No. The food's fine. I'm just a little confused about why you're watching me eat."

"Oh, I guess it is a little hard to enjoy the food when somepony's watching you. Sorry Trixie." Autumn took a few steps back out of respect for Trixie's personal space. "Before Summer left this morning she warned me about how much to feed you. The way you are now, too much food will either give you a sore stomach or kill you. I'm watching you to make sure that nothing happens."

"You're watching me to make sure that I don't accidentally kill myself …" Trixie closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry, but I just don't understand you."

"What do you mean, Trixie?"

"Why do you care so much about whether or not I'm comfortable here? Why are you trying so hard to help me? You're acting like we're friends or something; we don't even know each other." Trixie wasn't angry or annoyed; she was confused and rightfully so. Up until that morning, she was sure that she was the most hated unicorn in all of Equestria, and yet here was Autumn treating her as if they'd know each other since childhood. She couldn't fathom anypony randomly showing her so much kindness.

For Autumn, it stung a little when Trixie said _"You're acting like we're friends or something",_ but she played it off with a smile. "Trixie, you shouldn't need a reason to help other ponies. I'm helping you because I want to. You were about to die. I wasn't about to sit back and do nothing. If I had, then that would have pretty much made me a murderer." Autumn's expression turned serious. "I won't pretend like I haven't seen what other ponies wrote about you in the paper and I won't act as if I haven't heard any of the jokes that ponies have been using with you as the punch-line, but Trixie, not everypony is as cruel as you might think. You made a mistake, we all do, and I think it's wrong for anypony to constantly bring up yours. Sometimes the past should stay in the past." Autumn walked back into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water for Trixie. "But don't worry Trixie, we'll have you back on your hooves in no time." She used her magic to levitate the glass in front of Trixie's plate. "Then, you can go back to entertaining other ponies with your magic!"

She was about to die? Sure, she could still breathe and had a pulse thanks to Summer and Autumn, but was that truly enough to be considered "_alive_"? No, it wasn't. Trixie died long before her close call in the alley. Autumn saved her physically, but spiritually? She was about a million miles past being too late. The pony sitting in Autumn's kitchen was nothing but an empty shell.

After finishing her food, Trixie returned to the couch and drifted off into a deep sleep. She didn't awaken until a knock was heard at the door about an hour and a half later.

xxxxxx

"Guess whose back!" Summer walked through the doorway while effortlessly carrying a large supply of heavy-duty plastic bags. Happy to see that her big sister had made it back safe and sound, Autumn darted over to Summer's side.

"Wow, looks like you did more than just go out for a bite to eat!" Autumn laughed while helping Summer carry a few bags in.

After walking indoors and setting her groceries down in the middle of the kitchen floor, she noticed a weary Trixie rubbing the final remnants of sleep from her eyes. "Well well well, what an unexpected surprise! Didn't expect to see you up and moving so soon. How was breakfast?"

Once again, the azure unicorn found herself bewildered. Not too long ago, Summer was acting as if she wanted nothing to do with Trixie. Now all of a sudden she was showing interest in if she enjoyed her breakfast? What strange ponies Autumn and Summer were. "It was wonderful, but it would have been nice if you had a better memory though ..."

"Oh?" Summer used her hoof to flip away the thin strands of her fiery mane that grew over her right-eye, "Did I forget to do something this morning? I wonder what that could be."

"You can't be serious …"

Summer raised a hoof to her chin in deep thought. "Let's see … I washed up, came downstairs to see what Autumn was up to, went out to eat breakfast, made it over to the store before it closed for the day, and got some stuff from over at my house. Nope, didn't forget anything."

Trixie's mental state must have been even more damaged than she first thought. If she were her normal self, she would have likely had her hooves wrapped around Summer's neck in a death grip. "The spells Summer … you forgot to undo the spells. If it wasn't for Autumn, I'd still be stuck."

While still flashing a smug grin, Summer turned towards the groceries. "Actually, that's where you're wrong. I kept those spells going on purpose." Autumn's mouth fell to the floor in shock. Summer was speaking as if it was perfectly natural to neglect a sickly pony in desperate need of a helping hoof. Meanwhile, Trixie maintained her blank expression. If Summer was getting on her nerves she sure wasn't showing any signs of irritation. "I mean really, should I even have to? It's not like I put that much power into -"

"So, Summer!" Autumn projected her voice nice and loud in an attempt to change the subject of the conversation. "What's in the bags?"

"Oh these?" Summer gave one of the bags a gentle kick, causing something inside to fall over. "Well, today is Hearths Warming. This is the one and only time of the year where I willingly spend money towards other ponies instead of doing everything in my power to drain as much of the stuff as I can from them. I had to do some last minute shopping thanks to a certain somepony over there."

"You … you ran out just to get Trixie a Hearths Warming gift?" Autumn's eyes widened with wonder. Even Trixie found herself growing a little curious.

"Of course not." Autumn slumped down in disappointment. "I did more than just run off to get Trixie something. I ate some breakfast AND THEN I raced over to my house to get your gift and pick up a few Hearths Warming decorations."

A smile returned to Autumn's face. "Wow, I'm impressed! I didn't think you'd go the extra mile for Trixie!"

"No need to thank me." She leaned into Autumn's ear and whispered, "And just between you and me, this is more of an experiment than anything else."

Autumn whispered back, "Summer, this is serious! She doesn't need to get any more upset than she already is! What did you get her?!"

Summer laughed as she walked away, leaving Autumn's question hanging. "So tell me Trixie, besides the obvious, anything out of the ordinary goin' on with you? Any soreness in your legs? Any problems keeping your food down? Do you feel any dizziness or anything?"

"Why do you care?"

"Well isn't it obvious?" Summer pointed a hoof towards Autumn. "She's gonna pay me for having to foal-sit you. The longer I spend helping you get all patched up, the more bits she'll owe me. If you die, then my pay gets cut short. So I'm gonna do whatever it takes to keep you alive."

"How selfless of you," said Trixie with heavy sarcasm. "My body feels weak, I'm always tired, and my eyesight is a little off."

"Well, it sounds to me like those are symptoms connected to your weight problem. All we have to do is make sure that you get enough to eat without over indulging. That should all clear up as you gain your weight back. So, that should mean that I'll be stuck here for at least another few months before you're back to your normal size. Now what about the frostbite on your forelegs? How's that feeling?"

"It hurts a little when I put pressure on my legs and the swelling is starting to change colo-."

"Good." Said Summer, interrupting Trixie midsentence.

Trixie officially called minotaur shit on everything that Autumn said to her about Summer_. "I'm in pain and my legs are changing colors. How is any of that good?"_

As if reading her mind, Summer proceeded to answer Trixie's inner thought. "If it hurts, then that means that your legs can still feel. If they can feel, then that means that the frostbite isn't so serious that I'd have to amputate your legs. Unfortunately, for you though, you're gonna be in for some more pain once some of the skin on your front legs starts to die off. Thankfully though, Manehattan Medical will be open again tomorrow, so I'll be able to get you some painkillers, and of course, since you don't have any money, I'll just add it to Autumn's bill. Any other problems I should know about?"

"… No."

"Uh, Summer? I think we need to have a little talk about this 'charge me for taking care of Trixie' business. I barely have any mon-"

"Glad to hear that everything's alright!" Summer nearly shouted over Autumn, purposely drowning out her voice. "Now let's get started with putting up these Hearths Warming decorations!"


	4. Chapter 4

The two sisters spent the next few hours diligently working towards setting up the apartment. It took some effort, but Autumn was able to persuade Trixie into helping out. After vacuuming in the living room, Summer inherited the responsibility of hanging Hearths Warming lights along the dark red walls of the apartment. Trixie was given the task of sweeping the kitchen, dusting the furniture, and cleaning the windows. The sting from the frostbite complicated things but the blue unicorn ignored it all together. Trixie found herself frequently questioning why she was even doing this. Her reminder always came in the form of a sharp glare from Summer each time she got ready to say something along the lines of, "This is stupid. I'm going back to sleep now."

* * *

Autumn did more work than both her sister and her house guest put together. Not only did she help Trixie and Summer with their given tasks, but she also set up the Hearths Warming Tree and baked a wide variety of holiday themed snacks. Within minutes, the entire household smelled like a bakery.

While in the middle of preparing a second batch of macadamia nut cookies, Autumn discovered that in addition to the holiday gifts (which Summer had wrapped up prior to her return), her sister had also purchased a wide variety of foods that most ponies living in Equestria would typically see around the holidays. Once Summer and Trixie had finished up their roles, they both offered Autumn some extra help in the kitchen. Summer helped with the baking while Trixie made sure that nothing got overcooked. At some point Autumn turned on the radio to help set the holiday atmosphere.

Soon the table had been set for the small party dedicated to the joyous holiday. Enough food had been prepared to feed a small army. After Trixie admired the work that had been done and felt the warmth from the fireplace, she began to feel something strange. There was a new emotion occupying her inner void. What was this new feeling? Was it relief at how she no longer had to call the frigid world outside "home"? Maybe it was gratitude for how lucky she was to have come across two ponies who weren't trying to tear her down. For the life of her, Trixie couldn't figure out what she was feeling but whatever this foreign emotion was, it felt nice. Whether or not this was a good thing was completely beyond the blue mare.

"Well, I'm stuffed. I say we move on to the gifts now," said Summer resting against an armchair. Trixie stared in amazement at the carnage that had been dealt by Autumn's elder sister; seventeen different plastic plates were scattered on the sides of the chair in a poorly arranged pile. The orange mare had eaten everything, not even crumbs remained. The warm feeling that Trixie had felt earlier Trixie had been replaced with envy. The former magician could only handle two bites of food before the insides of her stomach began to churn, warning her that if she took another bite her gastric juices would splatter onto the carpet for all to see.

"Wait," commanded Autumn. "There's something that I think we should all do first."

"Huh? What?" asked Summer.

"Earlier today, Trixie said something that really got my attention." The sickly unicorn silently stared back in confusion. "She doesn't know anything about us and, aside from what we read in the paper, we don't know anything at all about her either."

"And your point is?" asked Summer while crossing her front legs.

"I think we should take this time to say a few things about ourselves! We could even make it into a game! Trixie could ask us a question, we answer it fully and truthfully, and then we ask her a question! Rinse and repeat!"

The envy had transformed into a full blown case of annoyance. Trixie hated the idea of Autumn's stupid little game already. "And what happens if I don't feel like answering the question that gets asked?"

Autumn smiled confidently and said, "Then just say 'Pass'."

Trixie took a moment to ponder if she would go along with this or not. The whole concept of playing a few rounds of "20 Questions" in order to learn a bit more about the two unicorns seemed corny. Including herself, all of the ponies in the room were adults, as far as she could tell. Surely Autumn could have come up with a less childish way to handle this. On the other hoof, Autumn had given her food, a warm place to stay, and she had been nothing but kind to her ever since they first met.

With a heavy sigh, Trixie concluded that Autumn was more than deserving of at least an hour of her time, regardless of how ridiculous the game sounded. "Okay, let's get this over with ..."

"No way in hell," said Summer in a cool tone while standing up from her chair. "Nope, you can count me out. Have fun you two, I'm gonna go out for a little walk before the sun sets."

"Hey, hold on for a second!" called Autumn. The elder of the two sisters shifted around and was met with a crestfallen look from her sister. "Please Summer … don't go." Autumn poked her lower lip out and made her eyes water for added effect.

"Do you have any idea how weird your idea sounds?"

"Please … just give it a chance …" Autumn's lower lip started to quiver a little.

Summer tried to look over to Trixie for some sort of support. All the mare did in response to Summer's pleading stare was shrug her shoulders. "Alright, fine," she grumbled to herself as she sat back down.

Before anypony could blink, Autumn's face switched from sad back to normal as she flashed a victorious smile. "That's better! Now, you go first Trixie!" The unicorn sat in silence for several seconds; the only sounds in the room came from the clock on the other side of the room. "You can ask us anything, just take your time. No need to rush."

Trixie tapped the armrest of the couch in deep thought. Coming up with a decent question was proving to be a challenge and Summer was obviously growing impatient; so, she went with the first thing that came to mind. "Uh … what's the age difference between you and Summer?"

"Good question! We're three years apart. I'm 22 and she's 25." Autumn turned to her sister and smiled, only to be met with a solemn expression. "Okay, my turn! Trixie, how old are you?"

"23." Trixie then turned towards Summer and sighed. This game was already putting her to sleep. The sooner she got this over with the better. "Summer, do you and Autumn have any other siblings?"

"We have a brother named Cereus. Actually, you both have something in common besides being unicorns. He spent his early years in an orphanage, just like you. He's 33 and he's a high ranking soldier within the Royal Guard. After that overrated wedding in Canterlot, I heard that the old head captain left Equestria to rule alongside that alicorn with the weird name in the Charcoal Kingdom, or whatever it's called, leaving the position for leader of the Royal Guard open for business. If all those rumors are true, then Cereus could be the new head captain by now. But seeing as how he's one of the laziest ponies that I've ever seen, he'd probably choose to stay under-ranked so he could avoid all of the extra work," replied Summer. "Now, I actually have two questions for you. How'd you get all those cut marks on your body and why did you lie about fighting an Ursa Major?"

"I was mugged by a group of ponies. Some of them had knives. As for why I lied … pass. Autumn, what -"

"What types of ponies were they?" Interrupted Summer.

"They were all earth ponies. Now Autumn -"

"You're a full grown unicorn and you know, full well, how to use magic. How in Tartarus were they able to get away with mugging you? It's pretty easy using magic to pull a knife away from a random idiot and even easier for a unicorn to bring down an earth pony as long as you stay out of their reach. Also, why aren't you answering the question? Do you have something to hide?"

Trixie grit her teeth. "Pass ... on everything. Autumn, where do you work?"

The pink unicorn gulped nervously. Her plan to get everypony to get to know one another was starting to backfire. "I work inside a flower shop just up the street. Some of the plants on sale there I grew myself. The shop won't open again for another week. Trixie, do you have any family out there that might be looking for you?"

The blue unicorn opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself early. She fumbled around with the words as she thought about how to answer the question. "Well, um … I guess that depends on …" Trixie took in a deep breath and shook her head. "No. I don't have anypony. No friends … no family … just me. I could die tomorrow and nopony would miss me."

Sensing the previous hesitation in Trixie's voice as easily as a Changeling detects love, Autumn pressed the question a little harder. "Besides us, are you absolutely sure that you're all alone?" The flower seller was met with heavy silence for what felt like hours. "It's okay. You don't have to tell us if you don't want too."

"No, I'm sorry," said Trixie. "I was dropped off at an orphanage as a foal. Unfortunately for me, I was too young to remember anything before that. But maybe that's a good thing. My parents gave me up for a reason. Would it have been better to remember them and have their memory haunt me for the rest of my life? Or to grow up always wondering, 'Do they even miss me?' 'What were they like?' 'Why did they give me up?' Either way, for better or for worse, I grew up without them in my life. Eventually, I just stopped caring."

"I lived in that orphanage until I was old enough to take care of myself. The only three ponies that I've ever considered 'family' were …" Trixie quickly shook her head. "No, forget it. That last part doesn't matter." As Trixie looked around, she saw that Autumn was wearing an expression of sympathy while Summer looked as enthused as a foal preparing to sit down for three hours and do homework. Trixie suddenly remembered something odd about Summer. Her cutie-mark was a silhouette of a pony destroying a punching bag in one powerful hit. It seemed strange that a doctor would have such an aggressive special talent. "Summer, what's the story behind your cutie-mark?"

At the sound of that question, Summer started smiling uncontrollably while Autumn looked as if she'd just seen a ghost. "Uh, maybe you should ask something else Trixie …"

"Oh no, Autumn. She asked a question that I'd be more than happy to answer!" Summer bounced up and down as if she was about to tell the most exciting story of all time. "Okay, okay, okay, okay! So, back in the day, I used to be one of the nicest little fillies that you could ever meet. If somepony needed something, I was always one of the first ponies to jump at the chance to help out. I wanted to be friends with anything that could breathe! I even walked in with a box full of cookies to share with my classmates on my first day of pre-school! In a nutshell, I was a pushover! A total sap! Oh, and I was a pretty big wuss too! I was scared of my own shadow and it didn't take much to get me to burst into tears! Lookin' back on it now, I can't believe I was that pathetic!"

Summer had a distant look in her eyes now. It was as if she were staring into another dimension. "There was this filly the same age as me … an earth pony named Red Wood. She was always making fun of me for being such a damn goodie-two-shoes. But, being the sissy that I was, I ignored it as best I could. I convinced myself that just because she was being nasty to me didn't mean that I had to fight fire with fire. A few months later, Red Wood makes friends with this pegasus named Golden Ray. They never would leave me alone. That all changed when they sent me home in tears. I ran to Cereus like a big chicken and bawled my little eyes out until I fell asleep. That colt must have gone behind my back and scared those two shitless, because from that day onward, the bullying stopped, just like that. But it all picked back up again four years later, after he went off to Canterlot and joined the guard."

"Did he ever say why he wanted to be a knight?" asked Trixie.

"Yes and no. The last thing that he said to us was 'My skills have always been a cut above the average unicorn. I might as well do something useful with my talents.'" Autumn rubbed the side of her neck slowly. "You could never tell what really went through that stallion's head. Each time he gives you an answer you get this feeling like he isn't lying, but he isn't giving you the full story either. But you could always count on him whenever you needed it the most." She lowered her head with a sigh. "I sure did miss him after he left for Canterlot …"

"We all did," confessed Summer. "Apparently, he was a real prodigy. The princess sent us a letter talkin' about how gifted he was at hoof to hoof and how exceptional he was with magic. She said that it was almost a crime that nopony had him test into her school for the gifted when he was a little colt. He ranked up pretty fast too. By age 20, he became the youngest stallion to ever reach the title of 'Elite' in the history of Equestria. But I'm getting off topic here. This is about how I got my mark and what it represents, not how Cereus was a smash hit in Canterlot."

"So anyway, after he left, Red Wood and Golden Ray went back to their old habits. Their methods for making me miserable became more and more innovative as we got older. By the time I hit my last year at Manehattan High, I was the only pony without a cutie-mark. Pretty pathetic right? An 18 year old that still hasn't found their special talent! Even Autumn got hers long before I did! One day I caught those two idiots stealing something from my math teacher's desk while he was out. I spoke up and they almost got expelled. The day they came back from their long-term suspension, I was … a little on edge. There was a rumor going around the school that Red and Gold weren't too happy about me getting them in trouble. It turned out that the rumors were true. They trapped me in a hallway while Autumn was busy telling me that I was getting worried for no reason at all. Red and Golden Ray showed up out of nowhere, shoved Autumn aside, and then they punched and kicked me until I was on my knees. Autumn tried to come to my rescue by smacking Red in the back of the head with a text-book. She turned around and blew Autumn away in one hit. They thought it was funny too, but I wasn't laughing."

* * *

Autumn had fallen to the ground and the battered mess known to the world as Summer Daisy was laying against a row of lockers. Her right eye was blackened and swollen shut, her lip was busted, and she had a bloody nose. Her body was covered in scratches and bruises. With every breath her lungs screamed in agony. Standing triumphant in the narrow hallway was a brown earth pony with a dark red mane, alongside a golden pegasus with a silver mane. The earth pony pointed towards Autumn's motionless form and laughed. "Next time mind your own business!"

"Seriously, she sees us kick her sister's teeth in, and her first thought is to fight us with a book?" Golden Ray was laughing so hard that she was crying.

"At least she isn't a snitch like her sister!" Red Wood looked down at her hoof and winced. "Ew, I think I hit her too hard. Some of her blood got on my hoof."

While the two bullies rambled on, Summer's mind was focused on how her tormentors had the audacity to attack somepony as sweet and innocent as her beloved sister. This was supposed to be between them and her. If they wanted to beat her to a pulp because she ratted them out, then fine. She'd let them break every bone in her body if it'd make them happy, but they actually had the nerve to attack Autumn and then laugh about it? How dare they?! There were no words in the Equestrian dictionary that could properly describe how scared, powerless, and ashamed Summer felt.

"Oh look at that, the baby's crying again!" Red mockingly did her best impersonation of somepony speaking down to a small foal. "Daw … did we hurt da' widdle' bitch's feelings?"

Summer was weak and fragile. It was needless to say that she didn't have the courage to stand up for herself. Oh why couldn't Cereus be here to save the day like when she was a little filly? She needed him now more than ever, but he wasn't here. He was in Canterlot, or wherever it was that the princesses decided to ship him and his unit off too. She closed her eye and thought hard about what to do at a time like this. She could run … but Red was the most athletic mare in the school. The earth pony would catch her in no time flat. If she did nothing then they would continue to beat her senseless, and then afterwards, they would likely give Autumn their full and undivided attention. Technically, Autumn had made herself a target when she tried to come to her sister's aid. Lunch wouldn't end for another 10 minutes so they still had plenty of time to do whatever they wanted. All of her available options pointed towards fighting back, but what did she know about fighting? Could she really bring herself to strike another pony? Summer heaved over and over due to the tears that were being shed out of sadness, as well as anger at what had befallen Autumn.

"Tough luck, Daisy! End of the line! There's nopony for you to cry to for help this time!" Golden Ray stretched her limbs as she advanced towards the downed Summer.

At the end of the day, Wood and Ray were intent on causing her, and possibly the one pony that she was obligated to protect from any threat, intense physical suffering. She needed to make a decision fast. Summer asked herself once again, _'Can I really bring myself to do this?' _ Her heartbeat served as a war-drum as the unicorn opened her eye and willed herself back up. Her decision had been made. "And who says that I need any help to take care of you two?"

The bullies stared at each other in temporary shock, which soon turned into loud hysterics. "Oh you've gotta' be kidding me! Wimpy little Daisy, the biggest doormat in Manehattan, is gonna' try to fight us?!" Golden Ray flared out her wings, blanketing Summer in the shadows of her wingspan. "You know what? I'm feeling generous today! I'm gonna' let you get a free hit in!" She raised her hooves and pushed Summer against the lockers. Her back bounced off the metal with a loud 'Clang'. "C'mon blank flank Daisy!" She smacked Summer across the face. "Hit me!" Summer absorbed the next punch thrown by the pegasus like a cushion. "C'mon chicken!"

Golden Ray threw another punch, but this time Summer ducked under the oncoming attack at the last second. That was when the orange unicorn stopped thinking and operated solely on her own instinct. Using twelve years' worth of pent up anger and aggression as fuel, Summer buried her hoof as far as she could into Golden Ray's stomach, knocking the wind from her lungs and temporarily cutting off her ability to take in oxygen. As one of her two childhood enemies gasped for air, Summer reached forward and grabbed the young pegasus by the back of her head and slammed her, face first, with every last ounce of strength that her adrenaline would allow, into a locker. The vengeful unicorn pulled Golden Ray's head back and slammed her again and again against the lockers hard surface. The rectangular piece of metal, not designed to withstand that kind of punishment, eventually caved in from the force. Summer didn't let up until her forelegs went numb from soreness, at which point she choke-slammed Golden Ray onto the cold floor below and delivered a single stomped against the center of the pegasus's face.

The shadows from Summer's mane concealed the savage glare within her good eye. She felt some sort of twisted satisfaction as she stood over Golden Ray. She was finally doing it. She was finally taking a stand against her old demons and it felt marvelous. The power that she held over her long- time enemies made her smile. She wanted to feel as powerful as she did now all the time! From that day forward, nopony would ever push her around ever again! Goodbye warm Summer the kind and hello Summer the unforgiving inferno!

Her moment of felicity was cut short as an important realization crossed her mind; she wasn't finished yet. There was still one giant piece of trash left and it needed to be taken out once and for locked her focus onto Red Wood and saw that she was trembling with fear; Summer greatly enjoyed this. The earth pony snapped out of her trance-like state when Summer charged towards her like a heat-sensing-missile. "No! Stay back! I'm sorry!" There was no pleading with Summer now. This mare had signed her own death warrant the instant that she had poked fun at striking Autumn. Summer aimed at Red's hind-legs and let loose everything that she had stored in her mystical reservoir. The earth-pony cried out in pain as the blast hit its mark dead on, causing her to fall onto the ground; blood fell from the newly obtained burns on her hind-limbs. Within seconds, Summer closed the gap between the two and descended on the injured earth pony like a vulture, ignoring her pleas for mercy.

* * *

Summer beamed with pride as she took in the horror on Trixie's face. "Autumn woke up while I was in the middle of settling my score with Red. She took off and came back with security. They pulled me away and held me in the office until our parents showed up. It was our mother who pointed out that I had my cutie mark," explained Summer while pointing at the silhouette on her flank; a representation of her special talent: fighting. "It was on that day that I learned a very important lesson. Might controls everything. As long as you have enough power, nothing can stop you. So if a few retards attack your family," Summer levitated a metal fork into the air and then crushed it into a ball. "You get the idea."

"What ever happened to Red Wood and Golden Ray?" asked Trixie.

Autumn answered the question instead of her sister. "They were both taken to a hospital. Golden Ray had a broken nose, a concussion, and eight of her teeth were either missing or fractured. And … Red was in a coma for two weeks. The doctors said that she probably wouldn't be able to play sports again. Both of their parents filed a lawsuit. Summer didn't face any prison time since she acted out of self-defense. But … Summer, Golden Ray, and Red all got expelled from the school, and our parents had to pay for the broken locker."

"You know, that was probably the best day of my life! My only regret is that I didn't take things into my own hooves sooner! And can you believe that my dad actually considered disowning me when I refused to apologize for what I did? Ridiculous! They deserved everything that I gave em' and then some. It gets me angry all over again just thinking about it. And it's not like my heart would have been in it anyway, so why bother? Making peace with your enemy is the most idiotic thing that anypony could ever do."

"So … you're saying that ponies who don't get along with one another, whatever the reason may be, should always remain enemies, and when all else fails, use violence?" asked Trixie.

"Exactly!" beamed Summer.

"So if Red Wood and Golden Ray were standing here right now, you'd pick up from where you left off in that hallway?"

"Pretty much," she replied with a grin.

"How pitiful …"

Summer eyed Trixie with a confused expression. "And what do you mean by that?"

"Well, based on what you told me, you're still angry because of something that happened almost a decade ago. You won't find a future if your head is always in the past. You need to let it go and move on."

_"And the irony here is that I need to follow my own advice,"_ mumbled Trixie.

Summer perked her ears up at this, obviously having picked up on what the blue unicorn had just said. "What do you mean 'follow your own advice'?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it," said Trixie in an attempt to change the subject before Summer decided to pry for more information. "Hey Autumn, is this game of yours over yet?"

"Sure Trixie. So onto the presents then Summer?"

"No." Trixie's hopes began to wilt. "The game isn't over yet Autumn. I still haven't asked Trixie my question yet."

"Well that's too bad, because I don't feel like talking anymore." Trixie looked outside and saw that the sun was beginning to set. "How about we finish this up on another day?"

"How about … 'who cares if you don't feel like talking?' The purpose of this game was for the three of us to get to know a few things about one another, right? Well, all we know about you is that you're 23, you got your ass kicked by a few earth-ponies, and you grew up in some orphanage. You still haven't really told us anything big about yourself."

"Well what about Autumn? She didn't say anything all that amazing either."

"Does it matter? I already know plenty about Autumn, she's my sister after all. It's you that I'm curious about. Now I just opened up about a huge moment in my life, I think that it's only fair for you to do the same."

Trixie could feel small fragments of her old defiant nature breaking through. "And what if I say, 'I couldn't care less about what you think is fair?' Or, 'I didn't even want to go along with this in the first place, so why don't you just shut up?'"

Summer's horn started to glow with a yellow light. "I'd say 'Don't you worry Trixie, because in a few more seconds you won't have to worry about saying anything for the next five months.'"

Autumn jumped out of her seat and stood between Summer and Trixie. "That's enough Summer! You're completely out of line! You can't force other ponies to do whatever you want! If all you're going to do is act like this, then you can get out of my apartment!"

"No, it's fine Autumn," assured Trixie. "Alright Summer, one last question, but then that's the end of it. So I hope that for your sake you pick a good one."

"Well look whose acting bold all of a sudden? I think somepony's forgotten their place, but that's alright." Summer smirked as she collected her thoughts about what to ask. There were two different questions that she wanted answered, either one would bestow her with a higher understanding of the former magician, but she could only ask one. She couldn't decide on which question to ask so she decided to flip a coin. Summer levitated the same metal fork that she had crushed into a ball earlier and flattened it down within a powerful telekinetic grip, until it resembled a slightly oversized bit. Next, she fired a red beam from her horn and used it to carve an 'X' on one side and a 'Y' on the back. Summer flipped the false coin into the air and watched as it landed on the side with the 'X'.

"And here I was hoping that it would land on 'Y'. Oh well, this'll do just fine either way. Anyways, I want you to tell us all about what happened during your first trip to Ponyville, and if you half-ass the story or try to pass from answering -"

"If you use that spell on Trixie again, you won't be allowed anywhere near my apartment until Trixie gets better," said Autumn.

"Whatever. There are other ways for me to get answers besides using that spell." Summer's harsh demeanor softened a little as she turned back to Trixie. "Feel free to start at any time."

"Okay, give me a minute. I need some time to think about this …" Nopony said a word, as Trixie closed her eyes and recollected her thoughts. She was completely still for an extended period of time. The only indicator that she was still alive came from her rising chest. Eventually, the silence was broken. "Alright, I guess I'll have to go back a few days before everything got so bad. I had been staying in Baltimare. Every now and then, I'd come across a few ponies who were willing to watch me in action for few a minutes. The key words being 'A few'. Business was more than a little slow for me, but I still managed to make enough to scrape by. You see, I was trying to save up for some new equipment to use in my shows. There was this special magnetic generator that I had my eye on. It releases a powerful magnetic current that can pass through most solid objects. With a little ingenuity, I could have used it as a way to levitate myself into the air like a pegasus. Imagine what that would have done for me ... how many crowds I would have been able to reel in. A unicorn that can fly without the use of actual magic ... The only problem was that the price for the generator was outrageously high."

Autumn frowned as she pieced together that Trixie never did reach her goal. "What happened?"

"I caught the attention of some stallion. He either had a huge crush on me, or he'd been really impressed by my street show, but I didn't have any interest in him whatsoever. He told me that he was an elementary school teacher and wanted to know if I was interested in doing a little show for his students. He was prepared to pay me upfront if I said yes. He showed me the bits as proof. If I remember correctly, there were about 50 bits in that bag. It wasn't much, but that still would have helped me reach my goal. 'Every little bit counts,' as they say. So the very next day, I show up to the school. I figured that since my audience would mainly consist of small colts and fillies there would be no need for me to do anything over the top. I decided to stick with card tricks, making small objects disappear, biting a bit in half and then making it go back to normal by blowing on it. Those are basic tricks for a magician of any level, but mind boggling entertainment for an audience of small children … or so I thought."

"What, did you screw up in front of the foals or somethin'?" asked Summer.

"No," answered Trixie. "The problem was this little unicorn colt. He wouldn't shut up for about 3/4ths of my show. Somehow he knew the secrets behind my stunts, which wasn't surprising since these were tricks that you'd probably see at a foal's birthday party. If he wasn't blurting out how my tricks were done, then he made it his business to try and find out. The teacher finally tossed me a lifeline and kicked that obnoxious colt out of the room."

"Serves his ass right. Then what happened?"

"That colt … he snuck outside and into my trailer while nopony was watching. I don't know if it was on accident, or if it was his way of getting back at me, but he set off some of my fireworks. One of my rockets ended up going through a window and into an empty room inside the school. I took a quick glance outside and saw him running around with some very expensive stage equipment of mine. I ran outside to go and tell that little creep off but stopped when I smelled smoke and heard the sounds of ponies screaming. Next thing I know, the whole school is in flames. Nopony got hurt, but the school and the entire playground where the foals had recess … all of it burnt to a crisp. And can you guess who had to pay for most of the damage?"

"Trixie … I'm sorry," whispered Autumn.

The ex-mage sighed and continued on with her tale. "Anyways, I was furious. I spent almost everything that I had trying to fix something that wasn't even my fault. I stormed out of Baltimare before I ended up doing something that I'd regret. I barely had enough bits to buy food. I was desperate for money. I needed to go somewhere where I wouldn't have any problems getting noticed, a small town maybe … a happy little place where I'd be able to forget all about Baltimare."

"Ponyville," said Summer and Autumn in unison.

Trixie nodded her head with a grim expression. "Things were looking up for me. I guess the town wasn't used to receiving visits from wandering magicians like me because a huge crowd gathered while I was still in the middle of setting up. Now before I go on, please understand my situation. I didn't have any money, I was still pissed because of what that colt did, and I really needed to impress the crowd. Depending on how well I did on that last factor would determine how long it would take me to bounce back from my financial hit."

"We understand," replied Autumn. "Please, go on with the story."

Trixie nodded before going on. "I bragged, over-exaggerated, and lied like there was no tomorrow so that I could draw in as many ponies as I could. I think everypony in the whole town came out to see me. The only problem was that there was a small hoof-full of ponies in the crowd that called me out on my over the top acting. Which I didn't mind at first, until one of them started booing. Now, like I said earlier, I was still pissed because of what happened in Baltimare, so I dared whoever it was that booed me to step up on stage. She had a blue coat that was a few shades lighter than mine, a rainbow colored mane, and she was a pegasus. Her name was Rainbow Dash if I remember correctly from what the papers around Equestria said."

"Ah, one of the ponies responsible for your biggest humiliation. I hear she got accepted into that training center for pegasi with the potential to become a member of the Wonderbolts," stated Summer.

"That's the one. The fact that she accepted my challenge to get on stage actually made me even angrier than I already was. She picked a pretty bad day to piss me off. Thankfully, I was able to hide my real emotions due to all of the years that I've spent trying to perfect my stage gimmick. In any case, I wasn't sure if anypony else in the crowd had any doubts about me. If they did, then that could have had a bad effect on how many bits I made from that performance, I needed every last piece of money that I could get my hooves on."

"In order to solidify my chances of hitting the mother-load, I challenged anypony in the crowd to step up to the plate. I didn't see any takers and I wanted somepony to use as a magical punching-bag. After looking around for a few seconds, I spotted Twilight Sparkle, the librarian from the paper who I'm sure you've heard plenty about by now. But, instead of her, Applejack, some dumb apple farmer with a southern accent, came up instead. She pulled out this rope and started to do all sorts of stunts that I could tell were well practiced. She finished her little show by snatching an apple from a tree and catching it in her mouth. You should have seen how impressed the crowd was with her; I probably would have been too, if it wasn't for how pissed and money deprived I was."

"With a little help from my magic, I used one end of the rope to distract her, and eventually, tie her down after making her fall over. Then I used the other end to wedge an apple in her mouth like a stuffed pig. The crowd 'Oooed' and 'Ahhed'; which took away any uncertainty that I had. I was ready to end the show there and take a break for the day, but then Rainbow came back on stage in an attempt to show me up, which only set me off again. I ended up making her spin around in circles until she was propelled off stage. Then this other unicorn, I keep forgetting her name -"

"The one with the pretty mane and owns that store in Ponyville? I think her name's Rarity," interrupted Autumn.

"Right, her. I'm still not sure about what she was trying to do, but it amazed the audience, so I turned her mane a grassy green."

"Oh that's rich!" laughed Summer. "Keep goin', keep goin'! What happened next?"

Trixie cracked a light, humorous, smile. Her smile was so small that nopony knew that it was there except for the storyteller, but it soon vanished. "I wasn't sure if anypony else felt like getting knocked down, so I did a quick onceover on the crowd to make sure that I had the audience eating out of my hoof. My attention went back to Twilight, I couldn't hear what she said too well, I was too far away and the crowd was a little noisy, but it sounded to me like she said, 'I'm special' and 'I'm better than anyone'."

"Hmph! That sounds like a challenge to me," said Summer. "Who knew that the element of magic was so overconfident?"

"I thought the same thing, really," confessed Trixie. "I admit, on a normal day, I have a bad habit of doing my fair share of bragging; it came with my stage gimmick, 'The Great and Powerful Trixie'. If you tell yourself something enough, it eventually gets rooted into your character to the point that even you start to believe it. I wanted to see the magical skills of the unicorn that claimed to be 'Better than anyone,' so I called her out for the second time that day. I was pretty confused when she chose to run away instead."

"What a wuss," said Summer. "All bark and no bite! And she's supposed to represent magic itself? Maybe you didn't need that cruddy amulet to show her who's boss."

"Well, maybe you heard her wrong. I don't think that one of Equestria's greatest champions would say something like that. Maybe you missed some of what she said over the sound of the crowd," stated Autumn.

"Or maybe 'Champions' and 'Heroes', or in this case, 'Heroines', aren't everything that they're cracked up to be, with the exception of our brother that is. In any case, go ahead and finish Trixie."

"Okay, so, where were we? Oh, right, Twilight ran away. I was confused but I laughed it off and went back to pretending to be the world's greatest magic user. However, there was something about the look on her face that made me … question whether or not I went too far in trying to get Ponyville's attention. But, I changed my mind when just about everypony in the crowd paid me for my performance. That night, after I had finally calmed down, and was well on my way to sleep, I made plans to look around for Twilight and her friends the next morning. I'd go around and explain why I was so upset in the first place and then apologize for making a mockery of them. I was even going to give them some of the money that the citizens gave me during the show. Then somepony knocked on my door, which put me in a bad mood again. If you've ever had somepony wake you up in the middle of the night when all you want is to go to sleep then you'd probably understand why."

"I hear ya' on that," mumbled Summer.

"I figured that it was another little colt or filly that wanted my autograph. Well, there were indeed a pair of colts at the door, but they were in a panic because they led a damned Ursa Major, which I later discovered was an Ursa Minor, into the heart of the town."

"Yeah … I remember when I read about that in the paper," said Autumn. "It said that you 'Wanted to better demonstrate your magical prowess' so you talked those two colts into leading the Ursa into Ponyville. I don't want to go on from there because it looks like they lied."

"Well would you look at that? Who knew that it wasn't a good idea to believe everything that you've read," said Summer with heavy sarcasm. "Why don't you tell us how it really got there?"

"My pleasure. Do you remember how I said that I 'Bragged, over exaggerated, and lied like there was no tomorrow'?"

"Oh …"

"And that's why I hate kids! They're so freakin' stupid!" laughed Summer.

"Summer!" snapped Autumn.

"Actually Autumn, after everything that happened to me up until now, a large part of me agrees with Summer. And to finish up the story, I wasn't able to stop the Ursa Minor from running rampant. That awards goes to Twilight. Out of sheer embarrassment, I fled the town without looking back. I ran to the first town I saw that wasn't Ponyville and paid a group of repair stallions to go back and fix up my trailer, which got destroyed by that stupid Ursa. After they transported it back to me, I saw that just about all of my equipment had been destroyed during the rampage. It's not easy being a magician when all of your equipment is gone and everypony blames you for the near destruction of an entire town."

Trixie sighed while sinking deeper into the couch. "You know the rest from there. My life turned into one big train wreck, I found the Alicorn Amulet, Twilight and her friends defeated me, I almost froze to death, and now here we are on Hearths Warming, listening to Summer and me tell ghost stories around the fireplace." Trixie raised a hoof to her mouth and yawned. "Well, I'd love to stay up and talk some more but it's probably a good idea for me to rest now." Trixie rested her head on a pillow and closed her eyes. "Too bad about the Hearths Warming gifts Summer. I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to open them."

* * *

After Trixie had settled down for the night, Autumn and Summer retreated upstairs so that Trixie could sleep undisturbed.

"Wow … I don't know what to say anymore," said Autumn.

"You're talkin' about her story right?"

"Yeah. Trixie sure has had it rough. At least she has friends now."

"Friends?" scoffed Summer. "She doesn't see us as 'friends'. She'll probably leave out as soon as she's able to stand on her own four hooves again. Once that happens, she won't give either of us a second thought. Which is fine by me, I don't really like her anyway."

Autumn frowned for a moment and then walked up to her sister. "Speaking of that, there's something that I want to talk to you about."

"Aww Tartarus, does this have anything to do with me and -"

"This has everything to do with that! Why have you been acting so mean to her? She hasn't done anything to you and yet you've been treating her as if she was related to Red or Golden Ray."

Summer rolled her eyes and sat down on Autumn's bed. "It's because she gets on my nerves. And before you ask why, it's because every time I look at her, I see myself from high school, only worse. I eventually learned how to stand up for myself, but Trixie … all she's doing is taking it! If she had the resolve, with her own hooves, she could take her life back. Oh, and since we're talking about Trixie, don't you think that she's been acting a little … weird?"

"What do you mean? She's sick and she's depressed about what happened in Ponyville. Of course she's going to act a little out of the ordinary."

"That's not what I mean … it's just … I have this weird feeling in my stomach that she -" Summer stopped when she saw the confused look on her sister's face. "You know what, never mind. I'm goin' out for that walk now."

"Uh … do you see how dark it is outside?"

"Yeah? And?"

"Are you sure it's safe to go out for a walk in the middle of the night, especially when you take in to account that this is the bad part of the city?"

"C'mon Autumn. This is me that we're talking about!" laughed Summer while stretching her legs.

"Okay … don't say I didn't warn you if you get attacked."

"Anypony dumb enough to attack me would wake up the next morning in Manehattan Medical with me as their doctor. There's nothing to worry about."

"Alright," sighed Autumn. The pink unicorn called after her sister one last time before she left out the door. "Before you go Summer, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"What were the gifts that you got Trixie for Hearths Warming?"

"Oh," said Summer with a smile. "An enchanted snow-globe of Manehattan –the snow turns green if anypony within a two meter radius tells a lie – and a few spell books."

Autumn raised an eyebrow. "That's it? Earlier on, you made it seem like you got her something … bad."

"The plan was to use them as a way to try and confirm a little suspicion that I've been having about Trixie since this morning, but I don't think that I picked a good day to force the canary to sing," replied Summer as she walked out the door. "I think I'll wait until she's ready to tell us herself."

Autumn's ears perked up at this. "Does this mean that you'll take it easy on Trixie from here on out? And … what's your suspicion about Trixie?"

"Take it easy on the walking corpse? Eh, we'll see. And as for the second part, don't worry about it just yet. I don't have too much to go by anyways." With that, Summer disappeared, leaving behind a hopelessly confused Autumn for the second time that day.


	5. Chapter 5

Whoever it was that came up with the saying, "Time is on your side" must have had a few screws loose. From Trixie's point of view, time, the eternal force that loomed over everypony like a foreboding predator, always seemed to be the enemy. It always seemed to be doing the exact opposite of whatever you wanted. For example, if you were having fun at a party then the hourglass would sprout cracks and the grains of sand would fall ever faster. If you found yourself unfortunate enough to get speared into a tedious conversation with an annoying authority figure, the leak would mysteriously patch over and the sands would slow to a snail's pace. It was always one way or the other, fast or slow; never a gray area in-between where the two would intersect.

Two and a half weeks had gone by since Hearths Warming and the majority of that time had been spent cooped up on the couch from sun rise to sun fall; only getting up (with Autumn's assistance) to use the bathroom. The time that Trixie spent recovering from her extended exposure to the cold was by far the slowest and least entertaining week of her life. There was nothing to do except sleep all day.

All of this because Summer had suddenly decided that Trixie was running the risk of further damaging her frostbitten forelimbs each time she took it upon herself to move around in spite of the slight twinges of pain. Autumn, with her usual overly cautious self, agreed to help make sure that Trixie didn't move a muscle unless it was absolutely necessary. The bedridden unicorn tore through her bandages without hesitation after had Summer finally announced that it was safe for her to move around on her own again. The scars on her forelegs, served as a permanent reminder of just how close she had come to turning into an oversized icicle.

The only thing left to fix now was her weight. Trixie stared at herself in the bathroom-mirror and took note of how clearly she could make out her own ribcage through the thin layers of fur and skin. She'd gained a pound or two back during her stay, but it had taken months for her to get like this; she didn't expect about four months' worth of damage to clear up in less than one. Yeah, she'd definitely be here for a while longer.

xxxxxx

The sun's light stretched over the horizon the following day, blessing the ponies of Equestria with the gift of a new Saturday morning. Trixie was the first under the roof to see the new day thanks a new nightmare involving Twilight and her friends. The dream had taken place during the first round of her match against Twilight. After it had become clear that Trixie was the victor, instead of forcing Twilight to leave Ponyville for good, as per the conditions of the contest, Trixie grabbed Twilight by the throat in a fierce telekinetic grip. Using the power from the Alicorn Amulet, she squeezed tighter and tighter until the champion of magic's neck snapped like a twig. She then laughed while setting the town ablaze and slaughtering Equestria's other five national heroes, mercilessly ending anypony who tried to stop the killing, but most of the other residents opted to run in fear. The dream ended after a blood-soaked Trixie turned around and disappeared within the all-consuming inferno.

The unicorn's only focus at this early hour was purging her mind of that terrible dream. She lazily rolled off the couch and crept through the apartment until she found her only form of entertainment for the last three days since regaining her ability to walk without pain, Autumn's bookshelf.

It was a sad little thing, covered in dust and cobwebs. Many of the books inside were old and worn; stained from age, neglect, and other unknown variables. The blue unicorn surmised that she was likely the first pony to even give these books a thought in several years. She half expected to find an animal carcass behind one of the novels.

Days prior, when she finally decided to at least read the titles and back summaries of the shelf's contents, Trixie slowly realized that not a single one of the books were happy ones; not that it mattered, she wasn't really in the mood to read about something happy with a cliché fairytale ending where the hero saves the day and everypony lives happily ever after. What she did find surprising was that Autumn had so many darker themed stories in her possession; it just didn't match up with her warm personality.

Under different circumstances, perhaps Trixie would have been able to find some humor behind the irony of some of the novels: Throwing Away My Identity, Broken Dreams, Scream Because the World Hates Me, Misunderstood, Failure, The Voices Told Her to Do It, and Soiled Reputation. That name of that last book nearly had Trixie fuming. _"Ooh I can't stand them! I don't think that I've ever hated anypony as much as I do those six! And that's saying a lot given how many ponies I've had the displeasure of meeting ... I'm almost tempted to talk Summer into helping me force feed them Cow Manure until it comes out of their eyes! She'd probably be all for it since they're the reason why she's stuck with me instead of doing whatever it is that she normally does …" _She continued to scan through the bookshelf with a cursory glance.

_"How those six can be considered heroes and role models by multitudes I'll never know; especially that purple witch. Her and her little pet! As far as I can tell, almost everything that she owns was spoon fed to her. The concept of actually having to work for the things you want would probably boggle her spoiled little mind! The only message she's sending is that being buddy buddy with somepony in power is the only way to get things done! Lazy-ass ... I bet most of the accomplishments that she's so proud of were rigged to make her and her criminal friends look better. I mean really, isn't it a little suspicious that whenever something big happens, they just so happen to ALWAYS be involved somehow?" _The more she thought, the darker her mood became. _"Ho, the next time they go off on another one of their scripted adventures to help save the world, I hope something goes wrong and they all die in the slowest, most agonizing ways possible! Then it's back to whatever layer of Tartarus that they spawned from!"_

The blue unicorn continued her search until she'd finally spotted the book that she had been looking for, _"Friendship Never Dies: by Sundowner." _ Trixie had taken an almost instant liking to this book when she'd first started reading it. The story was about a unicorn and her two best friends. The three fillies were in the process of scaling a large cliff without adult supervision when something went horribly wrong. Nearly 3/4ths of the way up, the support cable that kept the three friends connected snapped, sending the trio plummeting towards the ground below. From where Trixie left off in the story, the only one who survived the fall was the unicorn.

Trixie took hold of the book and hurried back to the couch. She trudged through the pages as if she was possessed, the world around her fading away as she read and read for hours; her mind focusing only on the pages.

_Chapter 29_

_Although her mind wasn't functioning correctly, Silver Lining knew better than to walk through the center of town hauling a cart of corpses. She also knew her mother and father would most likely not be supportive of anything regarding dead bodies, no matter how well-crafted an explanation she could give. Silver, taxed by the heavy cart, hauled the last few steps to her home from the back alleys of Hexville. She parked the wagon by the tree behind her house. It was dark by now and her parents were no doubt growing worried for her safety. She looked up to her bedroom window and removed her rigging. She frowned and looked back to her friends, moving within whispering distance of them. "How am I going to get you girls into my room?" She was a little perturbed with the idea of dragging them, one at a time, up the stairs. She didn't see a way to do that and not attract the attention of her parents. Especially with the gaping wound Scooter bore that still dripped blood and brain matter. Her mom would probably kill her if Scooter messed up the new carpet. She let out a frustrated sigh; her friends weren't very helpful but saw some of the leftover rope in the bottom of the wagon and smiled. Scooter still had her vest on and, even though she had tossed Cherry Blossom's away, she had worn her own. She may be able to pull them up from her bedroom -_

"Good morning Trixie!" The blue unicorn yelped in surprise, accidentally tossing the book into the air, ensuring the loss of her page for the time being. She looked over and glared at Autumn with great irritancy. What else would happen today that would help to worsen her mood?

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to scare you."

"Whatever," Trixie said while rolling her eyes. It was now that she realized how much time had gone by, adding more fuel to her belief that time is always against you.

Autumn stared at the old book which had landed a few centimeters away from her hooves and, with rising curiosity, used her magic to levitate the tome into the air. "Friendship Never Dies? Wow, I forgot I even had this! This book's a classic!"

"And I'm surprised that you ever owned a book like this to begin with. I figured that you'd be into 'Happier' stories."

"Huh? You think that …" Autumn's stare bounced back and forth between Trixie and the book that was being held afloat by magic, like a game of tennis. "No no no. This book isn't mine. Well, technically it is now, but I'm just holding onto it. I don't really like Dark stories, not that I even read books anyway; I like movies better. Oh, and I like comedy and adventure better than everything else." Autumn dropped the book back into Trixie's hooves.

"So none of the stories in that bookshelf are yours then?"

"Not just the books, but the whole shelf too. You see, that all belongs to Cereus. He had to leave it all behind when he left for Canterlot. He was a big Sundowner fan. Actually, this was one of his favorite stories done by him. The first time he read that book he complained for weeks about how, 'Something so wonderfully written could be ignored by so many ponies.'" Trixie saw some merit to that, considering how much dust was on the book when she'd stumbled upon it.

Autumn walked into the kitchen and turned the small knob on the stove. A flame kindled to life as she placed a skillet onto the burner. "So, how'd you sleep last night?"

Once again, images of Ponyville in turmoil and the mutilated remains of the Bearers of Harmony, of Twilight pleading for mercy, flashed into her mind. "Like a newborn foal," Trixie lied while fighting the urge to shudder. She could recall the details from the dream so vividly - from the despair that had been carved onto the faces of her victims after being blasted into pieces - right down to the intensity of the flames. It almost felt more like a memory than a dream.

"Oh, that's nice." Autumn sprayed the inside of the skillet before cracking a few eggs. "So Trixie, there's something that I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it?" asked Trixie.

"How would you feel if I talked Summer into helping me show you around Manehattan for today and tomorrow?"

"Huh?" Trixie blinked in confusion.

"Well," Autumn used her magic to open the refrigerator and levitate a plastic container, which was filled with berries, onto the counter top. One by one, the berries were placed into a blender, followed by a tray of ice-cubes. The machine roared to life and Autumn was forced to raise her voice so that she could be audible over the whir of the blender. "You've been stuck here for more than half a month now! I know you've been feeling like a bird trapped in a cage! And now that you can walk around without any problems, I thought that it'd be nice if we took you out to celebrate!" After the contents inside had been ground into a fine liquidy mixture, silence reigned after the machine was unplugged from the socket.

"Hmm, so you wanna know if I feel like going for a walk through the city?" questioned Trixie.

"Yeah, that's right. What do you say?"

Her response was nearly instantaneous. "Not interested in the slightest." She picked the book back up and began searching for the page that she left off on.

"Oh come on, Trixie … you'll have a great time! I promise!"

"No," she answered for the second time without even looking up from the book.

"C'mon, just this once!"

Her voice was mechanical and devoid of emotion. "Same question, same answer." Oh goodie, she found the page that she left off on. Now, which paragraph w- … what in Tartarus? Why did it feel like somepony was breathing really hard against the side of her face on purpose? "_Oh for the love of …"_

Trixie slanted her eyebrows and half closed her eyes as she slowly turned to her side. She was now face to face with Autumn who was making silly faces, no doubt in an attempt to get Trixie to laugh. She was failing miserably.

"Pleeeaaaassseee ..."

"You know," Trixie said matter of factly, "A wise stallion once said that the true definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So should I be telling Summer to bring over a psychiatrist? And one more thing, you should probably turn off the fire. I think the eggs are starting to burn."

With a yelp of alarm, Autumn rushed back into the kitchen only to return moments later. This time she seemed slightly more serious in her approach. "Okay, all jokes aside now, what's up? What do you want to say inside for?" When Trixie ignored the question and continued to read, Autumn used her magic to tug the book from Trixie's hooves. "I thought you'd jump at the chance for something like this. Like I said before, a bird in a cage! And now that the door is sitting wide open for you, you'd rather stay perched instead of fly for freedom? What gives?"

Trixie's frustration level was close to its boiling point now. Being treated like some helpless cripple for weeks on end, the nightmare, the books reigniting some of her fading resentment towards Twilight and her friends, and now this! Autumn was like the insect from Tartarus! No matter how many times you swat at it, it keeps coming back to bother you. Unfortunately for Autumn, Trixie's patience had finally run out. She took one look towards the ceiling, up at the book which was still suspended in the air, and then she looked back at the green and yellow maned unicorn. "You know, I think that it'd be a really great idea if you'd stop being so annoying, stay out of my business, and gave me back that book." Her tone was low but harsh at the same time. "And get this through your walnut sized brain while I'm at it, 'No'. Means. 'No'. And that won't change no matter how many times you ask me the same question. Now go sell some flowers or something you annoying filly."

Autumn staggered back a few steps as if she'd been hit physically. The mare had just about been rendered speechless. After the initial shock had withered down some, she gently lowered the book back into Trixie's hooves. "Well … don't mind me then. Forget I even asked." Autumn, suddenly feeling a lot less tempted to help out her guest, turned around and walked towards the stairs. "The food's done. Help yourself when you get ready." Stop being so annoying? Walnut sized brain? … Annoying little filly? _"Maybe I should have let her freeze," _she mumbled under her breath.

Trixie heard this and was shocked backed into reality. It was now that she realized just how poor her words of choice had been. "_Way to go, dumbass! Getting snappy with Autumn and then threatening her like that. And for what? Because she took some dusty old book away that wasn't even yours?" _Trixie looked at the book with escalating shame._ "She's just trying to help you. That's all she ever tried to do since you got here, which is more than you can say for most ponies. You're sure doing a nice job of returning the favor …"_

Trixie pressed her hoof against her nose and shook her head in disapproval of what she said before. "Alright, alright, hold on, Autumn …"

The mare turned back from the stairway and gave Trixie a sharp glare that said, _"What do you want now?"_

The burning stare alone was almost enough to silence Trixie, but she continued. "Whatever, I'll go … it's just," Trixie took a moment to get a feel for how much magic she could use. On the inside, she swore up and down that the benefits from the illusion spell were the only things that kept her from breaking off her own horn. Not that the spell would give her that much help anyway. If she had to guess, she only had enough power to safely keep the spell going for no more than 10 minutes, and that was assuming that all she did was lighten her coat a few shades and maybe darken the color of her mane a little. By her estimate, if things got really bad and she had to go with a more drastic change, she'd only be able to keep herself hidden for about two minutes.

"It's just …" she started again. "I'm sure you can take a few lucky guesses about why I don't want to be seen by other ponies, especially the way I am now. I've been really careful up to this point, but the way that I've been using won't work until my strength gets back up." Trixie focused in on Autumn's features and saw that the initial shock from before had grown into low levels of anger. "I'll go … it's just that I don't have a way to hide from everypony else."

Autumn came back towards the couch and pointed towards the front door. "Do you see the closet that's between the front door and the kitchen?" She didn't bother to check and see if Trixie nodded in confirmation or not. "Look in there and you'll see a few hoodies over on the right. They all belong to Summer and she usually wears them when she's on her way to the gym. Summer wears a size large. You look like you wear a medium so the hoodies will be a little big on you. Hopefully it'll be enough to help keep your face covered."

"An oversized hoodie? That's it?" Autumn fixed Trixie with another dark glare. "I mean … thank you."

"Oh, don't mention it," the pink unicorn said without trying to mask her sarcasm.

"Autumn."

"What?"

Trixie set the book aside and cleared her throat. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap like that."

The apology seemed to lift Autumn's mood, but not by much. "Don't worry about it. You already said that you didn't want to go. The conversation should have ended there, but I wouldn't let things end. I don't mean to be so nosy; it's just how I am. Summer's been calling me out on that since we were fillies." Calming down a bit more, she started up again. "But seriously, and I want you be honest, do you really want us to show you around, or are you just saying that so you don't hurt my feelings?"

"I've been down for the count for over two and a half weeks. 'A bird trapped in a cage' or something like that, right?" Autumn seemed to smile a little at this. "Besides, I haven't been able to really enjoy myself since I got here; not that I would have been able to anyway. There isn't too much that you can do if you don't have the money; but that should be a given, right?"

"Right … I'll go wake up Summer.

"Hold on." Autumn stopped again and looked back. "Where are we going?"

"That's the beauty of it," Autumn had calmed down even more now. "I'm not even sure myself!"

"Are you fooling around to keep everything a secret, or are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm in the mood to act goofy?" It was Trixie's turn to flinch a little. "Now then, Manehattan's a big place. There're at least a hundred different places that the three of us could go to. The plan was to go out and, I don't know, pick a place at random? Anyway, we'll have fun, just wait and see."

Trixie frowned a little again. "I really am sorry about earlier."

"So am I Trixie, so am I."


End file.
